


Transitions

by fabricdragon



Series: The Path of the Serpent [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Pepper Potts, BDSM, Everyone Has Issues, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Manipulation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Power Imbalance, Sex, Sex Magic, Tony-centric, references at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-13 05:07:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5696149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabricdragon/pseuds/fabricdragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki and Tony Stark escape Victor Von Doom, but transitioning from imprisonment there is not without complications, or costs.</p><p>In this series, Tony Stark's history was changed from most canon in one critical way (pre movies):  someone got him started studying sex magic.  Naturally the scientist Tony didn't think of it as "magic" but it was a very useful way to read people, and good meditation... and fun... and it sure kept the  dates friendly.  <br/>Turns out its more than that....</p><p>This story follows directly after the events in "Exchanged of Power".   Updates Mondays when possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It’s a Tradition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He that is thy friend indeed,  
> He will help thee in thy need:  
> If thou sorrow, he will weep;  
> If thou wake, he cannot sleep:  
> Thus of every grief in heart  
> He with thee does bear a part.  
> These are certain signs to know  
> Faithful friend from flattering foe.”  
> William Shakespeare

Even in a Quinjet it was a long ride home from Latveria.   Tony slept for most of it, after he’d called ahead to his London tailors and had someone put together a change of clothes for him, and a change of clothes sized for Loki.   Say what you want about Savile Row, the service was impeccable: no one asked why, and they would go out and buy the ready-to-wear stuff, too. It was delivered during a brief stop at Heathrow airport before they continued on toward New York.

Unlike his clothing after Afghanistan –which didn’t fit because he’d gained muscle from blacksmithing– this time his clothing hung off him from his weight and muscle loss. Judging from the look on the tailoring apprentice’s face when he delivered it all? Tony looked worse than he had imagined. He almost wished he’d asked them to bring him a mirror; instead, he asked Jarvis to bring up a picture of him on one of the display screens– then he wished he hadn’t.

He’d called Pepper, of course: she’d cried in relief that he was alive; she’d yelled her head off about him being stupid and risk taking enough to get captured; she’d promised to start dealing with the politics of having been a prisoner of a sovereign ruler in his country, and his escape; she’d told him she had to go to another meeting about S.H.I.E.L.D and gotten off the phone.

In that order.

In 8 minutes or less; Pepper was nothing if not efficient.

Loki woke up halfway between London and New York.

“About time,” Tony said blearily. “I got you clothes, and I had them deliver some food. It’s not the traditional Cheeseburger, but it should hold us over until we get to New York. You can’t get a real burger in London.”

Loki stared at the bundle of clothing. “Where?”

“We stopped in London. I called ahead and my tailors grabbed us some clothes. I had Jarvis estimate your size; it should fit well enough to get by until we can get you properly fitted in New York. Most of this is casual wear and isn’t supposed to fit that well, anyway.”

“If that’s how they fit YOU, Stark,” Loki said, eyeing him over, “I am not certain I would trust them.”

Tony sighed, “No. This is all based on the size I was before I was held prisoner, tortured, and fed mush for God-only-knows how long. I had it delivered.” He held out a take-out bowl of soup.

“And this is?”

“Daal Shorba,” Tony nodded. “I asked the shop to bring some soup and they brought this: good choice, it’s got a ton of protein, and it’s easy on my stomach… probably a better choice than cheeseburgers, honestly.”

“Why do you keep talking about cheeseburgers?”

“It’s my traditional food after being held prisoner and tortured.”

Loki just stared at him occasionally while he got dressed and ate soup: the clothes fit HIM, of course.

“You… actually look really good in that.” Tony grinned, “Of course you looked pretty hot at the party in Stuttgart, too. I think you look better in this: the lines aren’t as harsh. Once we can get you to my tailors, we’ll get you a properly fitted suit– something that plays up your look, but is a bit more approachable than the Stuttgart outfit.”

“Stark-“

“Tony.” Tony said firmly. “It’s gonna stand out a lot if you call me Stark too much, only do that when I’m being infuriating or something.”

Loki muttered, “So… always.”

Tony grinned, “You are totally gonna get along with everyone I know…”

“I doubt it. Before we start going over the extremely long list of ‘problems I wasn’t considering because I was desperate’, can I ask you an unrelated question?”

“Yeah…”

“WHY do you have a traditional food for after being held prisoner and tortured? Is this something you make a HABIT of?”

“Ah. Right. How much do you know about me, anyway?”

“OBVIOUSLY not enough,” Loki said firmly. “I had no clue you had even the most rudimentary magical training, for instance.”

“Well, in fairness, neither did I. I mean, I didn’t know it was magic, either, but I get your point.”

Tony shrugged, “I got kidnapped a few times, literally, as a kid: rich family, weapons maker dad, it happens. Usually they didn’t get that far, but I actually got taken a couple of times. Howard, my father, had a ‘no ransom’ policy, but he’d spend twice any ransom on hiring people to retrieve me.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, I guess. I got in the habit of just going back to normal, you know, regular life? To kind of prove that it didn’t bother me.” Tony shrugged. “Then I was captured in Afghanistan, when Obie- my almost foster dad- sold me out–“

“Wait… what?” Loki looked startled.

“I told you, I was tortured in Afghanistan…” Tony was extremely puzzled.

“First of all, I wasn’t certain that was true; secondly, what’s this about your foster?”

Tony winced. _Right, he didn’t know any of this_. “After my mom and dad died, Obadiah Stane took over running the company. He wasn’t actually related, but he was, I’d thought, a good friend of my father. Who knows, maybe he was, but I thought of him like an uncle. He pretty well ran things, took care of stuff. I trusted him.”

Tony rubbed his forehead and decided to stare at a wall. “Anyway,“ he continued, “turns out he was lying to me a lot, and eventually decided to get rid of me and just have the company. It’s a bit longer story than that, but he sold me out to some terrorists: they were supposed to kill me; I survived, barely. That’s how I ended up with shrapnel in my chest.”

Tony looked back over at Loki, who was sitting down listening intently. “The ARC reactor“– he tapped his chest– “keeps the shrapnel from moving and killing me. I built the first one while I was a prisoner in Afghanistan, along with the first Iron Man suit.”

“How did you build that while a prisoner?”

“They wanted me to build a weapon for them; instead, I built a weapon for me.”

“Ah.”

“I got found after I escaped– after I killed some of them and escaped,” Tony looked tiredly at Loki. “After the other prisoner died helping me. I would never have left you behind as another prisoner, Loki– never. Failing Yinsen was enough; we were either both getting out, or neither of us was.

“Anyway, when I got home I wanted a cheeseburger: common, ordinary, everyday, American food; the kind of food I ate in college.”

“And the man who tried to have you killed?”

“He was REALLY unhappy when I said I was getting out of the weapon business.” Tony went back to staring unfocused at the wall.” He hit me with a paralyzing device, and pulled the ARC Reactor out of my chest to power his own copy of my suit. I wasn’t dying fast enough for him, so he left me to die while he went on to finish up a few loose ends, kill Pepper, stuff like that. I’ll tell you the whole story sometime– sometime after I get really drunk.”

“He is dead, I presume.”

“Yeah.”

“Pepper?”

“My assistant, then my lover, then… she’s my CEO- she runs the business, along with Jarvis.” Tony shrugged. “We’re not lovers anymore.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, “So she’s completely lacking in any physical sensation?”

Tony laughed, “Thanks, I needed that!” After he stopped laughing, he continued, “She just couldn’t deal with… I guess you’d say with being a warrior’s wife? Wondering if I was going to come home this time? The last straw was… actually the invasion.”

“I would offer my apologies, but I doubt it would mean anything. How did the invasion do you any harm? The closest you came to death was likely my throwing you out a window, and you seemed well, afterwards.”

“Oh… right… you were unconscious.”

Loki raised an eyebrow at him.

“Before we managed to close the portal, the people behind S.H.I.E.L.D. ordered… they ordered a nuclear strike on the invaders. Fury tried to overrule it and failed. It would have killed millions of people, destroyed the heart of the city, even if it had worked.”

Tony looked at the shocked look on Loki’s face, “I take it Thor didn’t tell you.”

“No. No one told me much at all. I was scarcely un-muzzled, and then sentenced. I had few visitors.”

“Well, I was the only one who could do anything about it. I flew the missile through the portal and at the big ship-“

“Was it destroyed?” Loki seemed intent. _Damn, I hope he isn’t gonna get mad and flip on me or something._

“Yeah, the ship was destroyed, and then we closed the-“

“Thank you.” Loki sagged back into the seat and closed his eyes.

_What the HELL?_

 


	2. Unwarranted Assumptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.   
> Mark Twain, Following the Equator

“Uh…’ Thank you’? I mean, I’m glad you aren’t mad, but I don’t get it.”

“They had a lot of my blood and tissue on that ship; hopefully it is all destroyed.”

“Like… Doom?” Tony remembered how quickly Loki had thought to destroy the samples Doom had on them both. _So he has experience with that? And hadn’t been able to destroy the samples before?_

Loki laughed bitterly, “No. The Chitauri warrior drones are genetically engineered around the … electronics, I suppose is the best term.”

“THAT’s why they fell over once the ship blew and the portal closed?”

“Yes. They were not… They are drones. They were trying to find out if they could incorporate my genetics into the next series.” He shuddered. “I am very glad to hear they are unlikely to have any left.”

“Why… no, hang on…” Tony tried to think back to the apparent ages it had been since he last thought about the invasion. He’d had other things on his mind lately. He went over it again: all the stuff that had never added up; all the strange choices; the fact that Loki had left the scepter for them to use to close the portal…

“Holy shit, you were playing them?”

Loki looked amused, “You are not the only one who made alliance choices based on surviving, Stark. The Chitauri’s masters could not be opposed– by me, at least– so I chose to do what I could, to get what I could.”

“How much was you? Your idea?”

“I led them to Earth; I misled them about your capabilities to resist.” He put his head back on the head rest and stared at the ceiling. “I wondered, frankly, if you would be able to stop them, even as poor a job as I did of bringing them through.”

“That… was a poor job?”

“I could have opened the portal anywhere with enough power, Stark. Instead, I opened it almost over your head, and you had a chance to fight them as they came through, instead of after they had established a base…”

“And if they’d won?”

“Either they would have let me ‘rule’ Earth –under their authority, of course–while they used it to launch the assault on Asgard, or they would have tried to kill me. Either option would have given me a chance to escape that I didn’t have in their torture chambers.”

“Oh.” _That made sense. It was the only out you saw, and Earth wasn’t even your home; why not?_

“Thor said you weren’t acting like yourself.”

Loki stiffened slightly at the mention of Thor, but answered anyway. “He wouldn’t know. He saw only what he wanted to see, before.” He looked back down at Tony, “But… how much of who you were before, came home from Afghanistan?”

“Some. A lot, but yeah, I changed, even if it took me a while to see it all.”

“Before your fall into their hands, were you well?”

“I thought so.”

“I wasn’t. You were sent to your presumed death… I chose to fall.” His eyes drifted back to the ceiling.

“What?!”

“By the time they were done with me, my recollection was somewhat altered, but I have since had time to think, and remember: I was hanging over the void; my false father made it clear I could never be… anything,” –Loki’s eyes were fixed on a spot somewhere beyond the ceiling of the Quinjet–“so I let go. I had failed to destroy the other Jotuun; I could at least destroy myself.”

Tony raced through his information about Asgard again. _Next time I encounter a new people I swear I will get a proper debrief…_ “Jotuun… that’s… some kind of giant, right?”

Loki blinked a lot and focused back on Tony. “Oh, you don’t… yes, a frost giant. Horrible creatures; sworn enemies of Asgard.”

“You’re saying you’re a Jotuun?”

“Yes.”

“He said you were adopted, he didn’t say…” Tony trailed off.

“Didn’t he? How kind. Thor swore to destroy all the Jotuun when we were children; I swore to help him.”

“But... you’re a Jotuun?”

“I didn’t know. Odin’s magic makes me look normal– normal enough.”

“This... is a disguise? You were out of magic…”

“It’s not my spell, Stark. I can dismiss it, now that I know it’s there, but the spell is not mine, it is the All-Father’s. He renewed it when I was captured, so I should not embarrass the family by being seen for what I am.”

Tony suddenly remembered the cold–the FROST– on the suit, and the image he had of Loki being blue… “Frost giants are blue?”

Loki winced.

“I’ll take that as a yes. You didn’t look much taller…?”

“Apparently I am a runt. I was left to die, supposedly– perhaps I was, I am no longer sure. In any event, Odin brought me home from war– another useful artifact– to place me on the throne of Jotuunheim as a puppet king, someday. He said his plans changed: I suppose he saw that my advice could have been valuable to his real son, Thor.” Loki shrugged, trying to look nonchalant–and failing. “I will never know, I suppose. After I was returned to Asgard, I was sentenced to prison. Frigga is supposed to have begged for my life, but that alone would not sway Odin. I have come to think he simply hated to throw away a useful tool; that he thought he might someday need the heir to the throne of Jotuunheim–”

Tony interrupted, “Heir?”

“My true sire was the King of the Jotnar. As his only living son, I would be his heir, I think, even as a runt.”

“What does he think of this entire thing, do you know?”

“He said Odin should have killed me- that he would have. In any event, he is dead: I killed him to prove my loyalty and worth to Odin, and to Asgard.” Loki’s face twisted up in a bitter smile. “Which obviously failed.”

“So… you’re King now?”

“Of whatever is left? Perhaps.”

“And all you know about them is what you got told by people who swore to kill them all?”

Loki looked puzzled at him, “Yes.”

“In other words, you only know the stories told by people who want them all dead, and whatever got said by some of the Frost dudes in the middle of a fight or something… is that right?”

“Yeesss…”

“So, the actual fact is that you have NO idea how much you know about the Frost giants is true at all, and how much is enemy propaganda.”

Loki stared at him as though this was honestly a new idea. “…what?”

“The enemy is always depicted badly, Loki,” Tony said patiently. “The only two times you hear good things about an enemy is when you are talking them up to show how awesome you are that you defeated them, or when you’re trying to excuse why you’re losing– and even then, it’s mostly about how tough they are, not their phenomenal arts and how great their cooking is.”

“Jotuuns are brutes… they have no arts,” Loki said slowly.

Tony moved over to sit next to him.

“Loki,” he said as gently as he could, “If you were selling a war with Midgard to the Asgardians, would you tell them about how much we manage, even with such brief lives? About our humor? About all the awesome and crazy foods we have?”

“Of course not.” Loki sounded pained. He was smart: he could see the point Tony was getting at.

“When you’re fighting a war, the other side are always monsters. Sometimes it’s true, and they really are, but more often the worst you can say is that their LEADERS are bad; the ordinary people are usually just… people.”

“These aren’t humans, Stark. It’s not the same.”

“Oh? They’re inherently unable to appreciate art? Good literature? They can’t feel hurt, want love, have friends, and have enemies –all that– like an Asgardian?”

“Supposedly, no.”

“Then just how much did Odin change you with that magic? Because if you’re a Jotuun, and you can do all of that, then they CAN…” Tony picked up Loki’s hand and started rubbing soothingly at it, remembering how much he responded to touch. “I don’t know what their culture is like, but that sounds just like different groups of humans here on Earth. You can raise a human being to be a better or worse person, absolutely, but underneath it we have a lot of the same potential.”

Loki just sat quietly with his head back, looking off into nothing–maybe literally nothing, as Tony remembered the void he’d seen through the portal.

“I don’t know,” he said, finally. “They were the enemy. They were never anything but nightmares, and then I was one. I never had time to really question anything after I found out.”

They sat in silence for a long time. Tony eventually brought one of Loki’s hands to his lips and started kissing his fingers.

Loki twitched, but didn’t yank his hand away. “Why are you doing that now? You don’t have to.”

“Because you liked it, and it helped you feel better before.”

“So? You aren’t a prisoner, and you don’t have to try to trick me; if anything, I am your prisoner now.”

Tony stopped and dropped Loki’s hand like it was burning him. “Woah. No, you are not either! You?” –Tony waved at the Quinjet– “You could probably teleport right out of here or something.”

“Sadly, no.”

Tony shrugged, “Then when we land. I’m not holding you: if you want to make your own way, go right ahead; I won’t stop you. I’m offering to let you stay with me, not trying to force you to.”

“Truly? You would just let me go?” Loki looked pretty dubious.

“Yeah, I would. I will, if that’s what you want.”

“You… are a very peculiar person.”

“You… are not the first person to say that,” Tony said, grinning.

“Your friends will not permit me to stay, except as a prisoner.”

“Which friends are these? You keep assuming I’m friends with people when I’m not.”

“Thor-“ Loki began. _Of course he began with Thor._

“Haven’t seen him since he took you away,” Tony smiled and shook his head. “You sure are convinced he’s the center of the world, Bambi, but I only met him in the middle of an argument in the woods-you were there– and I haven’t seen him since you two left together.”

Loki looked uncomfortable– he actually bit at his lower lip– “Is Agent Barton still about?”

“He and Natasha went back to S.H.I.E.L.D. I’ve only seen them briefly, although I set aside rooms for everyone at the tower. Clint–Barton– and Natasha would probably be pretty upset about this, actually.” Tony looked thoughtful, “Still, I haven’t seen them in a while; there’s no reason to think they’d show up now.” Tony drummed his fingers against his ARC reactor, “Well, given the perversity of the universe, that may mean they’ll show up all unexpected-like. Also, we don’t want anyone else recognizing you immediately.”

Tony looked appraisingly at him. “Would you have an issue with changing your hair color?”

“No. I can do that with an illusion, why?”

“Can you grow a beard?”

“In reality? Apparently not well. As an illusion? Certainly.”

“So I’ll introduce you to my barber. Sal’s incredible: he’ll tell you what color and cut would suit you and, if you want, he can do the dye job; otherwise, just take his suggestions and do it yourself.”

“What’s the point of all this?”

“MOST people never got a good look at you. When they did see you, you were wearing a pretty distinctive outfit. Change your hair style to something less slicked back, and not as severe a color, and grow a beard–maybe a goatee to go with my look– and you won’t be recognized at all.

“That won’t fool everyone.”

Tony shrugged, “One step at a time. Jarvis? Have Sal meet me at the tower, and call my New York tailors… and order in cheeseburgers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the last chapter "in the shuttle on the way home" after this we arrive back in New York and things get complicated. I must remind people that both of these characters are damaged in many ways, and their opinions are not always correct. Neither are their fears, prejudices, or ideas....


	3. Trust Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you love someone … truly love them, friend or lover, you lay your heart open to them. You give them a part of yourself that you give to no one else, and you let them inside a part of you that only they can hurt - you literally hand them the razor with a map of where to cut deepest and most painfully on your heart and soul. - Sherrilyn Kenyon

Tony was getting tenser and tenser as they got closer to New York.   Loki noticed, but didn’t say anything for a while.

“If you are planning on betraying me once we reach New York…” Loki said warningly.

Tony stared at him in complete confusion until he realized what it must look like.  “Oh.  No, Loki, it’s not about you.”

“Then what is going on?” he asked suspiciously.

Of course he was suspicious; he’d been betrayed a lot.  Well, at least he will probably understand.

“I’m worried about Pepper, even though I am almost completely sure that’s nonsense.  Mostly.”

“You think she has been harmed? Wouldn’t your servant voice tell you?”

Tony sagged into a chair. “Loki, do you remember that I told you…. It turned out that when I was almost killed, and was captured, in Afghanistan, that  it turned out I was betrayed?”

“Yes….”

“By my foster father? The man I trusted?”

“Yes.”

So even though it’s completely ridiculous, and I  decided to go on this trip myself, and Pepper didn’t even want me to go… a small part of me still expects to find out she set me up.”

Loki’s suspicious look melted into sympathy. “Ah.  I see.  I thought it was…”

“About you, yeah I finally realized that. Sorry?  But no.”

“Is there any way to be certain?”

“Sure.  Get back to New York, get my hands on the woman I trusted with my life, the woman who saved my life from  Obie, the  woman I almost married… and… not trust her.”

Loki looked puzzled.

“All I have to do is talk to her while I have my hands on her, in a very intimate embrace, “Tony said bitterly, “Pretending I trust her absolutely… and not trust her.”

Loki began to look enlightened. “Ah, as you said, you don’t like manipulating people…”

“Especially not people I like… love…trust…”

“But if you don’t?”

“Then I don’t think I will stop waiting for the knife in my back.”

“So do it and get it over with?”

Tony looked at him. “Is there anyone  you still care about, right now, so much that you never want to hurt them?”

He looked away, “Perhaps.”

“Imagine setting them up and manipulating them in a way you only do to people you don’t like.”

“I…” Loki looked intensely pained. “I have some experience with that.”

“Then you know why it hurts.”

The rest of the trip was  silent.


	4. Truth and Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you're betwixt and between, trust the one with red hair.”  
> ― O.R. Melling, The Hunter's Moon

 

When they landed on the roof, Tony pointed to the attractive red-head and declared her to be “Pepper”.

“I thought she would be taller.” Loki mused.

“Well, she’s taller than Natasha, but that might be the heels.” Tony pulled himself up straight with effort and looked at Loki, “ready to go, ‘Thomas’?”

He’d magicked his hair a few shades lighter, closer to Tony’s color. “After you, it’s your roof.”

“Yeah,” Tony muttered, “don’t forget it this time.”

Loki laughed. “Full tilt Diva?”

“Damn straight.” Tony walked out of the shuttle like he’d never been hurt. 

Pepper ran up to him and stopped abruptly. “Oh my God, Tony…” she put her hand out hesitantly.

 _Damn he must look like shit._ He let a few cracks in his façade show, and fell into her arms and hugged her. “I dreamed about you.” He murmured into her hair, running his hands down her as if to reassure himself that she was real‑which, in a way, he was.

“Tony, I was so WORRIED about you. I knew you were still alive. I know you think that’s silly, but I knew…” Pepper was crying, “I just was so scared you were hurt, I wanted you back so badly…”

_And it was TRUE._

_She wanted him back, she’d missed him, she’d been angry and afraid and not at all happy, and he was a horrible, horrible person for ever doubting her._

“Forgive me…”Tony collapsed. Pepper screamed and tried to clutch at him to hold him up, and a tall strange man helped pick him up and was asking where to put him.

Jarvis answered on the speakers, “His bedroom is downstairs, but I should like very much to get him to medical. Please follow Miss Potts.”

Pepper stared at him. He looked familiar, and he was carrying Tony in his arms like a child.

“Miss Potts? Pepper?”  Loki smiled gently at her, “St-Tony was barely holding himself together on the way home.  I think getting him to help would be a wonderful idea.”

She turned without a word and started heading down into the tower.  Loki tried desperately to pretend he didn’t know this stairway.  Some areas were obviously new, however, he didn’t recall a medical facility this close to the roof.

“Please put him down there,” Pepper asked, “and step back.”

Loki did.  Equipment started moving of its own – _ah, Jarvis, of course._

“Would you like me to get him out of the clothing?” Loki asked the ceiling.

Jarvis answered, “If you would, sir.”

A path opened up in the equipment, and Loki and Pepper worked together and slid him out of the new clothes. It was easy enough, they swam on him.

“I’m afraid Doom’s hospitality was… lacking.” Loki said tersely, as Pepper looked aghast at Tony’s condition.

Pepper cleared her throat. “Jarvis?”

“Yes, Miss Potts?”

“Is this man cleared?”

“He is categorized as an ally, Miss Potts.  He has been given high priority access to the tower, and is under Mr. Stark’s direct protection.”

She whistled at that, then looked up thoughtfully at Loki. She was tiny, and balanced on a pair of ridiculously high heels. “So who are you?”

“I was another prisoner of Dr. Doom.  Tony… Tony rescued me.”

“You look ok.” She said flatly, measuring him with her eyes.

Loki smiled,sadly, “he needed me in good shape, until the end.”

She nodded slowly.  “Tony called ahead for Sal, he said he had someone else, who needed work done. I take it that’s you?”

“Yes, he mentioned having my hair done.” Loki glanced at Stark lying in a maze of tubes and wires. “But we can’t leave him.”

Pepper suddenly smiled at him. “Ok, I believe you. You’re alright.”

“Was there a doubt?”

“There’s always a doubt.”

“St-Tony thought much the same thing.”

“Jarvis, do you know who this is? Did Tony?”

“Yes, and yes, Miss Potts.” Jarvis added, “He admitted it was likely a bad idea.”

She nodded and slid a switch on a small object, and slipped it into her pocket. “So you’re Loki. How did you end up back on Earth, and tell me what happened to Tony.”

Loki stared at her. “Stark was certain no one would recognize me.”

“Well, I admit, it’s not obvious without the outfit.” She cocked her head to the side, “I think it helps if you have years of experience trying to figure out what insane thing Tony has done now.” She paused slightly, “you aren’t what I expected.”

Loki nodded at her, She wasn’t what he expected either.  “Doom tortured him for the codes to his suit.  I didn’t know he was there until rather late… He ended up in my hands, toward the end.” Loki looked back toward the bed, “His current condition is something of an improvement, but the stress of combat, and then…”

“He came apart in my arms.” Pepper’s voice was steel. “Do you know why?”

 “Miss Potts, I am quite certain he didn’t want you to know.”

Pepper smiled tightly, “I am quite certain he’s a fool and an idiot.”

Loki grinned suddenly, “You are very likely correct. We have a great deal in common.”

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Well?”

Loki had to admire the ferocity of the little breakable thing. “Out of obligation to my host, I cannot answer you, but I do seem to recall he didn’t tell Jarvis not to answer you, and we were talking in the shuttle.”

Pepper blinked up at him and smiled again.

“Jarvis? Answer the question.”

“He had been explaining about the betrayal by Obadiah Stane, Miss Potts, and that while he was certain you had nothing to do with this, it was going to eat at him until he saw you and could be certain. I expect, based on his ‘Forgive me’, that he collapsed once he was certain.”

Loki expected her to look angry, or shocked, instead she just looked sad. “Poor Tony, It must have been hell.”

Pepper straightened up and looked firmly at Loki. “As Tony’s CEO and assistant, since he isn’t well, it’s my job to take care of his guest.  Sal is already here, and we’ll get you a room and ... you’re going to need identification, aren’t you?”

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. “So you are in charge when he is unconscious?”

“No, I am in charge of Stark Industries, period.  I do my best to manage Tony, as well ‑bloody idiot needs a caretaker.  When he’s unconscious he just doesn’t argue with me.”

“Indeed he argues far less when he is unconscious.” Loki said laughing slightly. “But I wouldn’t put it past him to try even then.”

“Just how much time did you two SPEND together? You seem to have gotten to know him very well.”

“It was intense.”

“It was Tony, then.” She waved toward the exit.

“I don’t think he should be left alone.”

“I don’t trust you enough to leave YOU alone with him.” She said pleasantly, “I only decided not to kill you recently.”

Loki blinked several times. “It’s not that easy to kill me.”

She smiled at him and patted her pocket, where she had put that small object. “Tony is the best weaponsmith on the planet. He may have given up the commercial applications, but he’s very good at it.”

“Can you two stop?” Tony’s voice came groggily from the bed.

Pepper turned without hesitation and ran back to him. “Tony? It’s ok. I would NEVER try to hurt you!”

“You TOLD her?” Tony glared at Loki.

“Technically, no.  However I might have told her where to GET the information…”

Tony looked back at Pepper and desperately searched her eyes for blame, or hurt, or anger. “I knew better, Pep.  I did. I just‑“

Pepper leaned down and kissed him.  Loki felt a completely ridiculous amount of jealousy.

“It’s OK, Tony.” Pepper  murmured.

“I love you Pep.”

“I love you too, you asshole” Pepper wiped a few tears away from her eyes. “Now tell me again why I shouldn’t shoot Loki?”

“What?! NO! Bad Pepper!” Tony sat up, or tried to.

“She hasn’t yet,” Loki said amusedly. “Although your claim that I am not recognizable is obviously in error.”

“He saved my life, Pep.”

“He said you rescued him”

“That too, we kind of… traded.”

“I’m going to send Sal home, and tell him to come back tomorrow. Both of you are going to eat, and rest.” Pepper then put her hands down on the bed on either side of Tony’s head and stared down at him. “And you are going to give me, and Jarvis, a complete account of what happened and how Loki is involved in this, so that I can fix everything, or else.”

Tony looked very thoughtful. “This is an entirely reasonable course of action, Pepper, and I’m glad I thought of it…. Can I get up now?”

She backed up and Tony got up. Loki moved to help him.

Loki quietly asked Tony, “Are MOST Midgardian women so fierce?”

Tony looked solemnly at him, “No, just the redheads, mostly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will remind everyone that Tony has an incredible brain... which is working under massive stress, torture, starvation, and so on.   
> Also, he has been with this Pepper, practicing at least some Tantra, for quite a while...   
> and Pepper is not new to the "crazed supervillain holding you hostage" thing.  
> she has picked up a lot, and Tony armed her pretty heavily.


	5. Debrief, part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touch seems to be as essential as sunlight. -Diane Ackerman

Tony did his best to go over it with Pepper.  He was halting, and left a lot out, but had gotten to Doom getting the bait codes, and Loki showing up, when food was delivered.

Pepper inspected the delivery and served the food.

“You have no servants?” Loki asked and then stopped as he watched her hand a plate of food to Tony, who took it without even thinking about it.

“We have a cleaning team that comes in…” Pepper trailed off and looked confused.

Tony was practically inhaling the cheeseburger.  “He tried to hand me food, Pep. It caused some misunderstandings.”

“Ah.”

Loki watched Pepper and Tony eating one and followed their lead. He didn’t look that impressed.

Tony grinned at him, “It’s not the height of cuisine, but it’s typical for America.”

Loki nodded, “What B‑ what I have heard referred to as ‘comfort food’:¨a food from your childhood or celebrations.”

“Yup,” Tony said, and then looked sadly at Pepper when she told him a second hamburger could wait until this one had settled.  He didn’t argue though.

Loki asked, after the cheeseburger, “The codes you gave were false?”

“Yeah.  They were trapped, basically.  It would let you in, but...” He looked thoughtfully at Loki and tried to put it in a context for him, “They were poisoned: they work, but it will hurt you.”

“Ah. Good!” Loki said with some venom, “May he have all the joy of it.”

Tony continued, including the laptop closing unexpectedly sounding like the cuffs on the torture machine, his attempts at manipulation of Loki, and his confusion over what went wrong, followed by the betrayal by Doom and their subsequent escape thanks to the unexpected actual power raising by Tantra.

Tony went very, very lightly over what he’d learned about Loki, mostly that his information was evidently incomplete and incorrect. He didn’t mention anything personal; Loki shot him a very grateful look at that.

Loki looked like he was rather boggled by Tony’s point of view on their interactions, in any case. Tony supposed that was fair.

 Other than telling him to slow down and making sure they both had enough to drink, Pepper mostly stayed very quiet and made obscure scribbles on her pad until he was done. 

“So,” she said, looking down at her pad. “Your sex studies are actually some kind of magic or new physics; we have a whole new boatload of phobias and PTSD triggers‑ we can add some food issues to the list, but getting food from Loki may have helped that; we actually know next to nothing about Asgard or the invasion; Doom just moved up to high priority; and we need to figure out how to hide Loki.  Anything else?”

Loki stared at her and glanced at Tony; Tony just grinned. “Yeah, basically.”

Then she turned to Loki and said, “Your turn.”

“I assure, you I have no idea how to even begin…”

_Nope, not now._ Tony held out his hand, “Loki, come over here?”

He pulled Loki down next to him and draped himself over him.

Loki asked drily, “You still need to try to ‘read me’?”

“Well, probably, but actually I just wanted warmth.” Tony yawned and leaned into Loki’s chest.

“I don’t think I’m a good person for that,” Loki said tiredly.

“Blanket,” muttered Tony.

“Tony...”  Pepper complained.

Tony opened one eye at her and snuggled more firmly into a rather bewildered Loki.

Loki waved his hands in a perfectly understandable “what do I do about this?” gesture and Pepper sighed.

 “He’s gone all cuddly, which means this is tabled until he gets up.  I won’t get anything else sensible out of him for hours.”

Pepper looked from Tony to Loki, and back again. She considered the realities of the situation.

“Can you carry him to the bedroom?” Pepper asked. “Someone will have to stay with him.” She frowned at the way Tony was wrapping himself around Loki. “It looks like I’m going to HAVE to leave him with you: I have too much to do, and trying to peel him off is a lost cause.”

Loki followed her to the bedroom, carrying Tony.

She was giving rapid instructions in Tony care, interrupted muzzily by Tony on occasion.

“‑ and don’t get out of bed without warning him, he’ll panic‑“

“Better than a knife at my neck.”

“What?!”

“Nothing.” Tony muttered.

“Tony!”

“Is asleep, this is his Life Model Decoy. Snore,” Tony grumbled into Loki’s chest without opening his eyes.

Pepper just shook her head and kissed him on the forehead.

She looked at Loki, “I take it you’re smart enough to understand that if‑“

“‑anything happened to him, little flame, you and his voice with the armor would be outraged?” Loki smiled at her tiredly, “I believe I understand it.” His voice found a bit of the old assurance, “This is the only person who ever had good reason to hurt me, good reason to abandon me, and nothing to gain from me… and still came to my aid.” He locked steady green eyes on her. “Anything that happens to him went through me first.”

Pepper stepped backward under the sudden force of personality, and then nodded.  She turned on her heel and he watched her walking away.

“I take it back; she’s not an idiot for letting you go.”

“She’s not?” Tony asked muzzily.

“She never let you go, she just stopped being in your bed, for some idiotic reason.”

“Oh,” Tony smiled without opening his eyes. “That’s ok then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pepper has tried to detangle a "done now, using cuddles as a coping method" Tony. It is, as she said, a lost cause. but at least now she has more understanding of what happened.  
> next chapter you get ... some... of Loki's POV on the previous story.  
> some  
> reminder these are not Voice of God, and highly biased.


	6. debrief, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns.   
> Thomas Moore

Loki eventually fell asleep with Stark trying to mimic a squid from the way he was wrapped around him. He stirred a few times and quietly whimpered, as he had done when he was chained to the wall.

_I’d thought that he must have been suffering physical ills, from Doom’s mishandling, but even my healing magic hadn’t helped. No, this… this was memories, like my own of the void, and the fall._

When light began to show through the windows, the windows themselves darkened. Eventually Stark woke up.

He looked around blearily. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

“I assume that is another quote?”

“Yup, and another movie for you to watch. Jarvis?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Is there breakfast?”

“Ms. Potts left blender ingredients, and eggs, Sir. I can order in anything else you would like.”

“Let’s start there.” Tony amended, “And coffee.”

“That was assumed, Sir. If coffee was missing, it would have been mentioned first.”

Loki couldn’t help but marvel, “You… CREATED… this servant?”

“Yup.” Tony grinned. “So, my ability to cook is minimal but protein shakes, eggs, and coffee are all easy to digest and fairly good for you.”

“A correction, Sir: coffee in moderation is good for you.”

Tony put on a puzzled look. “Mod-er-ation? Look that up for me, will you Jarvis?”

“Of course, Sir. It shall be on the list next to sanity, caution, prudence, and–”

“Hey!” Tony shook his head and looked at Loki. “Sorry, he does take a bit after me, so he’s a smart aleck.”

Loki pretended not to notice how badly Tony’s hands shook, and offered to assist under the guise of “Learning how this works”. In short order, they had exceedingly peculiar but moderately tasty thick blended drinks, fruit, and coffee. The coffee didn’t appear to go with the rest of it but Tony didn’t seem to care.

“So…” Tony was staring down into his drink and stirring at it with a spoon. “You and Pepper seem to be okay?”

“She is a fierce little thing.” Loki nodded.

“Though she be but little, she is fierce!” Tony paused. “That’s a quote, from a very famous play–and really popular with short girls.”

“I cannot imagine why,” Loki drawled sarcastically at him.

The clicking of heels on the floor alerted both of them to Pepper’s return before she came into view.

“Oh good, you did eat.”

“Hey, Pep… Anything important I need to know?”

“Nope.” She smiled politely. “Now that I know you are safe and I don’t have to spend a lot of my energy worrying, I can handle it all.”

“It sounded like S.H.I.E.L.D. was… uh… having issues.”

Loki looked curiously at them both. “Issues?”

“You were unconscious when Jarvis briefed me.” Tony sighed, “Apparently all hell broke loose, and most of the Avengers have been scrambling to pick up the pieces.”

“Yes, and it’s getting worse,” Pepper sighed and sat down, pouring herself a coffee. “All the military and intelligence people who were jealous of S.H.I.E.L.D. or chafed at having jurisdiction issues with them are out for blood.”

“THAT I understand,” Loki nodded. “They are shown to be weak and everyone tries something.”

Pepper looked at him thoughtfully. “Do you understand computers?”

Loki smiled. “Probably better than most people on your planet.”

“That’s not saying much…” Tony muttered.

Pepper sighed, “In order to stop the problem, all of the data on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s servers was dumped to the internet–made public. Jarvis and I have done our best to scrub Stark industries information off the net, but…”

“All… of their secrets?”

“Yup.” Tony made an odd popping noise of the final sound.

“I would laugh at a few of them, but… I suspect it is the poor minions who suffer for it,” Loki said after a pause to imagine and enjoy the hurt that must have caused to Director Fury–he still hated the man for mocking him.

“Probably,” Tony nodded.

“We’ve been hiring some, and working on at least minimizing the damage… but then everyone else that wanted a piece of S.H.I.E.L.D. for whatever reason has…”

“Been on them like a pack of paparazzi on the latest scandal.” Tony nodded.

“Basically.” She looked down at her phone. “I came up to make sure you were alright…” Pepper glanced at Loki thoughtfully. “…and that you were both eating.”

Tony nodded. “Just… If you see any of the boy band–or Natasha–give us a heads up? Uh… it could be kind of awkward…”

Loki couldn’t help but laugh, “Awkward… that is certainly a word for it.”

Pepper nodded, “Yes, I can imagine.” She gathered up a few things and kissed Tony on the forehead. “Try to get a basic debrief on record from him? Please?”

Tony gave her a mock salute and a grin that was a bit less confident than he might have liked to imagine. “Will do.”

She nodded and went out and Tony sagged slightly. “Sounds like we missed a real mess… I should try to catch up on it.”

Loki nodded. “In the meantime… Is there by any happenstance a bath? I still have–”

Tony jumped up. “Oh hell… What was I THINKING?! Showers, yes… uh… bath? Well, there’s a whirlpool in the gym… It’s good on my back? It has seats.”

Loki stood up. “I would very much appreciate more of a bath, or to clean at least.” He recalled what the man had said about baths, and water… “The… seat helps? There was a seat of sorts in the baths…”

Tony looked like he was weighing how much to tell him and shrugged. “Prisoner. I was a prisoner so nothing was helping. The only reason I didn’t panic at the showers was either being drugged or the smell of soap–soap is not something anyone used in torturing me.”

“Can… Can you bathe here then?”

“Maybe? It will be familiar, and…” Tony paused. “Maybe.” Then he shrugged. “Shower though, should have done that first–come on.”

Loki found the shower was large enough for two, but obviously intended for individuals, not… not like the baths at the summer castle. “Shall I wait?”

Tony looked at him thoughtfully. “Are you okay sharing a shower?”

“Yes? I wasn’t certain you were.”

“It’s… I’m not… Look, for right now, shower–I’ll figure out how to explain this later.”

It was odd in a way he hadn’t expected.

“Problem?” Tony grinned and handed him a bar of soap.

Loki took it out of reflex and paused… “It is… When you were a servant, it made sense.”

“I was never a servant; I’m insubordinate by nature.”

Loki laughed until he almost fell. “We are well matched then.”

“I’m kind of getting that impression.”

“You played the role well enough, but… not quite.”

“I was aiming for ‘valued advisor’ but it was a balancing act working up from… where I started.”

Loki nodded and went over it in his mind as they were finally, blessedly clean again, and then dressed in clean clothing.

“The… laptop closing? It sounded like… the device he was using?”

Tony shuddered. “Yeah, the ‘click’ sounded like the cuffs closing.”

“I had… You suddenly fell over wounded–I did not know why.” He paused. “I was concerned my healing you had missed something.”

“Ah.” Tony nodded slowly. “So, I make it a policy to do what Pepper says–”

“Seems prudent,” Loki nodded firmly.

“And she wants a debrief…” Tony brought them back to the open floor with the great windows. “Are you up to it?”

“No, but I shall likely not be any better.” He shrugged. “Now will do.”

“I’ll order in food.”

…

Loki slowly stirred a coffee with far too much cream in it, according to Tony. “You do realize this will be… unpleasant? If I tell the truth… you will not like it, and neither will your little flame.”

“I’d rather have someone tell me the truth so we can work on it than lie.” Tony sighed and sat back. “I grew up with lies.”

“As did I, as you know.”

“Yeah, that was the first thing I started wondering about: is Thor pathologically delusional?”

“Not that I have noticed… Why?”

“Because you two seem to have grown up in very different places, but you grew up together.”

“We didn’t really… grow up together. We grew up together as children, perhaps, but soon enough he was off with the warriors, and I was being taught by my mother… the woman I thought was my mother.”

“Did she raise you?”

“Yes.”

“Did she treat you like you were her kid?”

“In hindsight, she was the only one who treated me as if I belonged.”

“She’s your mom,” Tony said firmly.

One corner of Loki’s mouth quirked up. “I suppose then yes.”

“Okay, so…?” Tony shrugged. “Childhood memories later. How about we stick to Doom’s extremely unpleasant vacation resort.”

Loki nodded. “You know how I came to be there, I will not go over it again–you may tell her–but Doom had been increasingly absorbed in some project. I’m afraid he muttered about it a lot and I ignored him.” He looked apologetically at Tony. “If I had not, perhaps I would have found you earlier.”

“I can’t blame you: I tuned the bastard out as much as I could–he went ON, and ON, and ON…”

“He did indeed.” Loki nodded. “So, on the day I found you… he was late, and I was aggrieved, so I finally went down to the area he had been in to find him.”

Loki looked off at the wall. “He was torturing a prisoner. I had a moment’s unease–mostly memories of my own…. issues…” Loki felt a hand on his own across the table and looked down to find Tony looking sympathetic.

“I did not expect you to be… I thought you would be upset by this tale?”

“Probably will be; doesn’t mean I can’t sympathize, too.” Tony paused. “If I start pacing, don’t get in front of me?”

Loki nodded. “To continue, the… man hanging in the restraints was not identifiable… and I wasn’t looking closely; I mostly wanted to leave. Something kept worrying at me though, and I was trying to find out what, while fighting the urge to start… hitting things.”

“From what I recall, you sounded very put together and cool–at first I thought I was hallucinating you.”

“That might explain your laughing so oddly in the device–it sounded quite mad, as though whoever it was, was entirely gone.” Loki shivered. “I think I had laughed like that myself…” He cut off hurriedly and went on, “Eventually you said my name. It was not entirely impossible, I had been seen–known–here… but… I looked at you a bit more and you looked familiar. I asked who you were–”

“I remember that.” Tony nodded.

“After Doom identified you, I was… I was a bit stunned. I didn’t know what to do, so we went to discuss magics and… as an impulse, I asked for you.”

“Why?” Tony sounded honestly curious.

Loki was fiddling with objects on the table. “I had mixed reasons: you had been an honorable foe–I did not wish to see you degraded; you had challenged me–I wanted to win; you had caused me hurt–I wished to repay some–”

“I got all but that last one, Maleficent.”

“Ah? My…” he paused and muttered a bit, “May as well speak it as it was… My masters were displeased that I did not acquire you with the scepter.”

“The people who sent you… the ones behind the Chitauri?”

“Yes. As I said, I was under threat–they kept watch over me through the scepter.”

Tony nodded, “Sorry, go on.”

“I honestly had no idea if I was going to cut your throat or… keep you on a leash: both appealed.”

Tony nodded, “Nothing you’ve said so far is exactly new.”

“When you were dragged in… I saw your injuries for the first time. You were very ill, as well as wounded, and… truthfully, it is fortunate that my mother taught me some of the healing arts. You slept for several days in a healing trance.”

“Did I? That explains a lot…”

“I was… I was angry, and hurt, and trying to understand why I bothered with you. I should have left you to die instead of wasting the effort, but… I suppose I had some idea of a servant I could exchange banter with?”

Tony laughed, “Well, it’s not like Doom was worth talking to!”

“Ugh, no.” Loki shuddered. “While you were asleep I saw the light in your chest.”

THAT got Tony to twitch. “Right… Well, you didn’t pull it or I would be dead, so…”

“I understand you fear a repeat of your foster father’s betrayal… but in fact I did remove it to see it more clearly.”

Tony stared at him and his skin paled. “Eh… right?”

“It was a master work… Even Asgard had nothing like this, but it was impeding your breathing…”

Tony reflexively out his hands over the Arc reactor and very tightly said, “Go on…”

“The energy also made it difficult to understand what was wrong with you in detail. I found that it kept some bits of metal from moving in your chest, but…”

“That’s what it was for,” Tony said tensely. “The first version was a battery with cables… it’s why holding my head under water was even worse: if the cables got wet…”

“So you built this…?”

“To keep myself alive, yeah. When I was a prisoner in Afghanistan.”

Loki nodded slowly, “Then understand this: your lungs were filling with fluid–”

“Pneumonia,” Tony nodded. “I’m prone to it now.”

“And the shards of metal in your chest were irritated… Your heart was laboring and failing. Your blood was carrying disease through your body–infection, as you would say…”

“Systemic infection? Shit.” Tony stared at him with horrified eyes. “And that would go right to the heart…”

“It had, and to the metals in your heart…” He sighed and reached his hand out into nothing–his hand blurred slightly–and brought it back cupped around something. He put a few small bits of metal and plastic, twisted sharp things, down on the table between them.

“So I removed them.”


End file.
